In its simplest definition, a trait is a surrogate of organismal performance, and this meaning of the term has been used by evolutionists for a long time. Over the last three decades, developments in community and ecosystem ecology have forced the concept of trait beyond these original boundaries, and trait-based approaches are now widely used in studies ranging from the level of organisms to that of ecosystems. Despite some attempts to fix the terminology, especially in plant ecology, there is currently a high degree of confusion in the use, not only of the term "trait" itself, but also in the underlying concepts it refers to. We therefore give an unambiguous definition of plant trait, with a particular emphasis on functional trait. A hierarchical perspective is proposed, extending the "performance paradigm" to plant ecology. "Functional traits" are defined as morpho-physiophenological traits which impact fitness indirectly via their effects on growth, reproduction and survival, the three components of individual performance. We finally present an integrative framework explaining how changes in trait values due to environmental variations are translated into organismal performance, and how these changes may influence processes at higher organizational levels. We argue that this can be achieved by developing "integration functions" which can be grouped into functional response (community level) and effect (ecosystem level) algorithms.

/pdf/let-the-concept-of-trait-be-functional-2ppbgwsn3s.pdf

Let the concept of trait be functional

Plant functional traits are the features (morphological, physiological, phenological) that represent ecological strategies and determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels and influence ecosystem properties. Variation in plant functional traits, and trait syndromes, has proven useful for tackling many important ecological questions at a range of scales, giving rise to a demand for standardised ways to measure ecologically meaningful plant traits. This line of research has been among the most fruitful avenues for understanding ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes. It also has the potential both to build a predictive set of local, regional and global relationships between plants and environment and to quantify a wide range of natural and human-driven processes, including changes in biodiversity, the impacts of species invasions, alterations in biogeochemical processes and vegetation–atmosphere interactions. The importance of these topics dictates the urgent need for more and better data, and increases the value of standardised protocols for quantifying trait variation of different species, in particular for traits with power to predict plant- and ecosystem-level processes, and for traits that can be measured relatively easily. Updated and expanded from the widely used previous version, this handbook retains the focus on clearly presented, widely applicable, step-by-step recipes, with a minimum of text on theory, and not only includes updated methods for the traits previously covered, but also introduces many new protocols for further traits. This new handbook has a better balance between whole-plant traits, leaf traits, root and stem traits and regenerative traits, and puts particular emphasis on traits important for predicting species’ effects on key ecosystem properties. We hope this new handbook becomes a standard companion in local and global efforts to learn about the responses and impacts of different plant species with respect to environmental changes in the present, past and future.

/pdf/new-handbook-for-standardised-measurement-of-plant-5aljxhhg5y.pdf

New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

Summary 1. The leaf economics spectrum (LES) provides a useful framework for examining species strategies as shaped by their evolutionary history. However, that spectrum, as originally described, involved only two key resources (carbon and nutrients) and one of three economically important plant organs. Herein, I evaluate whether the economics spectrum idea can be broadly extended to water – the third key resource –stems, roots and entire plants and to individual, community and ecosystem scales. My overarching hypothesis is that strong selection along trait trade-off axes, in tandem with biophysical constraints, results in convergence for any taxon on a uniformly fast, medium or slow strategy (i.e. rates of resource acquisition and processing) for all organs and all resources. 2. Evidence for economic trait spectra exists for stems and roots as well as leaves, and for traits related to water as well as carbon and nutrients. These apply generally within and across scales (within and across communities, climate zones, biomes and lineages). 3. There are linkages across organs and coupling among resources, resulting in an integrated whole-plant economics spectrum. Species capable of moving water rapidly have low tissue density, short tissue life span and high rates of resource acquisition and flux at organ and individual scales. The reverse is true for species with the slow strategy. Different traits may be important in different conditions, but as being fast in one respect generally requires being fast in others, being fast or slow is a general feature of species. 4. Economic traits influence performance and fitness consistent with trait-based theory about underlying adaptive mechanisms. Traits help explain differences in growth and survival across resource gradients and thus help explain the distribution of species and the assembly of communities across light, water and nutrient gradients. Traits scale up – fast traits are associated with faster rates of ecosystem processes such as decomposition or primary productivity, and slow traits with slow process rates. 5. Synthesis. Traits matter. A single ‘fast–slow’ plant economics spectrum that integrates across leaves, stems and roots is a key feature of the plant universe and helps to explain individual ecological strategies, community assembly processes and the functioning of ecosystems.

/pdf/the-world-wide-fast-slow-plant-economics-spectrum-a-traits-2qqc6fx0m7.pdf

The world‐wide ‘fast–slow’ plant economics spectrum: a traits manifesto

Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects their litter decomposition rates, we brought together leaf trait and litter mass loss data for 818 species from 66 decomposition experiments on six continents. We show that: (i) the magnitude of species-driven differences is much larger than previously thought and greater than climate-driven variation; (ii) the decomposability of a species' litter is consistently correlated with that species' ecological strategy within different ecosystems globally, representing a new connection between whole plant carbon strategy and biogeochemical cycling. This connection between plant strategies and decomposability is crucial for both understanding vegetation-soil feedbacks, and for improving forecasts of the global carbon cycle.

/pdf/plant-species-traits-are-the-predominant-control-on-litter-2qmzgyuuzp.pdf

Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide

Here, we analysed a wide range of literature data on the leaf dry mass per unit area (LMA). In nature, LMA varies more than 100-fold among species. Part of this variation (c. 35%) can be ascribed to differences between functional groups, with evergreen species having the highest LMA, but most of the variation is within groups or biomes. When grown in the same controlled environment, leaf succulents and woody evergreen, perennial or slow-growing species have inherently high LMA. Within most of the functional groups studied, high-LMA species show higher leaf tissue densities. However, differences between evergreen and deciduous species result from larger volumes per area (thickness). Response curves constructed from experiments under controlled conditions showed that LMA varied strongly with light, temperature and submergence, moderately with CO2 concentration and nutrient and water stress, and marginally under most other conditions. Functional groups differed in the plasticity of LMA to these gradients. The physiological regulation is still unclear, but the consequences of variation in LMA and the suite of traits interconnected with it are strong. This trait complex is an important factor determining the fitness of species in their environment and affects various ecosystem processes.

/pdf/causes-and-consequences-of-variation-in-leaf-mass-per-area-4q0s917bw1.pdf

Causes and consequences of variation in leaf mass per area (LMA): a meta-analysis.

Although the structure and composition of plant communities is known to influence the functioning of ecosystems, there is as yet no agreement as to how these should be described from a functional perspective. We tested the biomass ratio hypothesis, which postulates that ecosystem properties should depend on species traits and on species contribution to the total biomass of the community, in a successional sere following vineyard abandonment in the Mediterranean region of France. Ecosystem-specific net primary productivity, litter decomposition rate, and total soil carbon and nitrogen varied significantly with field age, and correlated with community-aggregated (i.e., weighed according to the relative abundance of species) functional leaf traits. The three easily measurable traits tested, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, and nitrogen concentration, provide a simple means to scale up from organ to ecosystem functioning in complex plant communities. We propose that they be called ''functional markers,'' and be used to assess the impacts of community changes on ecosystem properties induced, in particular, by global change drivers.

/pdf/plant-functional-markers-capture-ecosystem-properties-during-4mgbv7cc5w.pdf

Plant functional markers capture ecosystem properties during secondary succession

Ecologia Austral, 25:54-64 (2015) Several studies attempted to find quick and easy methods to assess litter decomposability. We tested three frequently used methods on 6 Mediterranean herbaceous species from different plant families and life forms: (1) ‘green leaves traits’: traits of living leaves related to the strategies of living plants; (2) ‘litter traits’: litter respiration during in vitro incubation and initial litter properties; and (3) ‘leaf and litter spectral properties’: the spectral characteristics (NIR) of green leaves and litter. We analyzed the relationship between these methods and their consistency to assess litter decomposability in the field. Green leaves spectral properties were the most accurate to predict field decomposability, followed by leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and initial content of non-labile compounds. In vitro decomposability marginally correlated with field decomposability. The selection among these predictors may then depend on the instruments available. LDMC is the easiest and least expensive, and is also a constant trait within species. Alternatively, if available, NIR spectra of green leaves and initial litter represent the quickest method for estimating decomposability and litter quality at the same time. Our findings confirm previous evidence that for species from semi-arid systems structural traits like LDMC and non-labile compounds content are important properties controlling species litter decomposability. The validity of our conclusions when a wider range of species is included remains to be tested.

/pdf/predicting-leaf-litter-decomposability-an-exploratory-1x1v7cuake.pdf

Predicting leaf litter decomposability: an exploratory assessment of leaf traits, litter traits and spectral properties in six Mediterranean herbaceous species

Human-induced changes in land use lead to major changes in plant community composition which have strong effects on ecosystem processes. Here, we tested the hypothesis that changes in traits of living plants induced by such changes resulted in changes in the quality and decay properties of the litter produced by the different communities. This was done in the context of a secondary succession following land abandonment in the Mediterranean region of Southern France. During the course of succession, species with high specific leaf area (the ratio of leaf area to leaf mass), low leaf dry matter content (the ratio of leaf dry mass to leaf fresh mass) and high leaf nitrogen concentration were progressively replaced by species with opposite characteristics. Accordingly, the initial litter concentrations of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) decreased, while their C:N ratio and their hemicellulose concentration increased with time after abandonment. Early-successional communities had faster rates of litter decay and N release from litter, but these differences damped out with decomposition time. Nitrogen release from litter was related to initial litter chemical composition, particularly to its N concentration. This also held for litter decay rate, but only during the first 18 months of decomposition. Community functional parameters (i.e. trait values weighed according to the relative abundance of species) were tightly linked to initial litter N concentration, and thereby to litter decay and N loss rates. The strongest correlations were found with leaf dry matter content, which therefore appears as a powerful marker of litter properties. This provides further evidence that characteristics of living leaves persist in litter, and that some ecosystem processes can be inferred from plant functional traits.

Plant traits, litter quality and decomposition in a Mediterranean old-field succession

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Plant functional markers capture ecosystem properties during secondary succession

Predicting leaf litter decomposability: an exploratory assessment of leaf traits, litter traits and spectral properties in six Mediterranean herbaceous species

Plant traits, litter quality and decomposition in a Mediterranean old-field succession